Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player - all other threads are just I.D.I.O.T.s

I agree with all this. But I am also happy Ausar is getting all those rebounds and blocks. Amen is competitive as hell … I suspect he will dial it up on the defensive end to match the plaudits his brother is getting.

 

I feel like Amen can be almost as good on defense as Ausar.

 

It depends on what and how they are being used.

Amen jumps higher, is quicker and more explosive.

Ausar is getting minutes, and that does help him somewhat, but they don't appear to be developing his other skills.

We will see what happens - at this point Amen needs to get healthy and stay healthy.

What I can say is that Amen could do what Ausar is doing - getting rebounds, blocks and putbacks but that isn't what the Rockets want out of Amen, they think he has the potential to be a lead guard in the league.

 

Amen has far better court vision and has a far better handle.

That is the biggest difference from a natural skill stand point, but that is a pretty big difference.

Amen is the better athlete and more explosive.

Ausar last year was marginally better defensively and started off shooting better.

As for Ausar's handle, I think it is good - but raw.

 

The projection is what they were before they entered the league.......people grow differently in environments.....Do you think I pine for Jabari's shooting at Auburn? Nope I do not.

Spoiler

From experience only Brook Lopez was much better than Robin Lopez.....but Brook was better coming into the NBA than Robin.

Marcus Morris was only slightly better than Markieff Morris.

The Martin twins......I do not watch them enough.

Jaden McDaniels is better than Jalen McDaniels.

Hard to say but there is a chance they are both at a similar level or there is a chance one is significantly better than the other.

He had better vision in a much inferior league, you do not need elite vision to be a good player, sometimes simple plays suffice.

Sometimes it is more difficult for people who have 4-5 skills to just stick to the skill that the team finds useful.........

Udoka might be a better overall coach but Monty is better with young players, I believe so.

 

We will have to agree to disagree - I think that court vision and point guard skills are a big deal for a 6'7" player that has the type of athleticism and physical skills that Amen has. It is the difference between being a potentially really good player and a superstar.

It is very possible that Ausar ends up having a better career than Amen - but other than injuries, I have yet to see anything on the court that has changed my opinion of Amen as a prospect - if anything, his natural athleticism was translating well on the court.

 

I have not seen anyone being a superstar yet who is not an elite scorer and shooter.....
Vision without the high scoring potential.

La Melo? Not there yet.

Lonzo? Injured and before injury a good player but not elite level.

Franz Wagner? - He is a good shooter already.

There is virtually no archetype other than Magic Johnson who was an exceptional scorer besides passing brilliantly.

Amen was never a top scorer to go with his 7-8 assists at OTE.

 

Russell Westbrook is a first ballot Hall of Famer that has been a poor shooter his entire career.

This is all assuming that Amen or Ausar do not improve as shooters - which I expect to be the case, the only real question is how much they improve.

 

Yep, but I doubt every team would have made Russell WB the first option and given him the keys.

Russell is an elite rebounder, people forget that part, that is actually an elite skill that is more important, his kicking out to the shooters is valuable but I think rebounding was the key.

The Pistons are using Ausar as a utility guy and not as a star type right now and maybe not for years.

As you said he is neither WB or La Melo Ball, he is an unprecedented prospect in development.

I do not even consider Anthony Davis a superstar, we have to talk about superstar definition later.

 

If you don't consider AD a "superstar," then I'm not interested in your definition of "superstar."

 

Based off of what exactly do you think Amen has the better court vision? I laugh when I hear Amen is a PG and Ausar is exclusively a wing. They’ve been together for so long that Amen took on the PG role and since there’s only one basketball Ausar took on the wing role. As a matter of fact Ausar averaged more assists at OTE despite not being the point guard.

From here on out is where they take a different path as their respective organizations will want different things from each of them (maybe not). We will also see the difference in development of the Rockets organization vs the Pistons.

 

I mean it's not a random decision that Amen was playing point guard in OTE and Ausar was more of a wing. It's not like they flipped a coin and Amen just ended up in that position. I think based on all scouting reports Amen is the one with better handles and court vision.

 

Well said, some folks here are still stuck with the scouting reports from half a year to years ago.

It is the NBA, sky is the limit, either one can be anyone.....but Ausar got the better start for sure.

They need to be 28-30 ppg players to be superstars though, that we cannot help them with.

 

If Amen can shoot like Fred, we'll be a championship contender in a couple of years.

 

It's possible that the coaches couldn't recognize who's who in practice. They just randomly assigned the brothers' positions.

 

Amen and Ausar are going to be the hottest or most jarring conversation for years or decades to come.

I want to start slow.....

 

He already shoots like Fred.

Spoiler

/spoiler]

 

It's silly to be comparing Ausar and Amen so early. I, frankly, don't like that kind of comparison in general, especially during a player's rookie season. The team circumstances matter too much.

Ausar is currently averaging 32 mpg with the Pistons, shooting 41.6% from the field in the last ten games for a .462 TS% on the season. Do you think he'd play similar minutes with us? Of course not. He'd be lucky to average 20 mpg behind Brooks, Tate, and Eason, and Ime wouldn't let him take so many shots.

 

Jason Kidd was not an elite scorer or shooter but led the Nets to the finals twice and was 2nd in MVP voting in 2002.

 

Yup, we are so stacked right now at the defensive wing position, and quite frankly lacking in the PG role. Even when Amen comes back, he will have to sink or swim behind FVV, it might be a struggle to given his current handles and shooting, but he's not going to get many minutes when you already have Eason, Brooks and Tate.